Groundwater war pits Wisconsin farms against fish

New law prevents challenges of high capacity well permits

7:03 AM,
Jul. 22, 2013

The boat launch at Long Lake, near Plainfield, no longer reaches the water. In Wisconsin's Central Sands, some lakes and streams have lowered or dried up in recent years as the number of high-capacity wells has mushroomed, largely for irrigation. Kate Golden/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

Written by

Kate Prengaman
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

Long Lake has lost its shoreline. Dock after dock dead-ends in the weeds. This small lake in the Central Sands of Wisconsin looks more like an unmowed lawn with a pond in the middle than a place where families used to water ski and fish. The lake used to be up to 12 feet deep. Now it is closer to 3 feet.

"Long Lake was once a trophy bass lake. So when we moved here, in the first two years, my boys were catching bass like crazy," said Brian Wolf, who owns a cabin on Long Lake. "It was like catching fish in a barrel as the water declined."

In 2006, the lake dried up completely and all the fish, including 3-foot-long ...